Dracodile 5E Tactics
Another iconic alpha predator of Immoren, and I pitted a slightly weakened one against my players in a very memorable encounter set on a modification of Gogzz's barge from the NQ #17 "Junker Hulk" Pendrake Encounters article. It was a lot of fun for all to be sure, although I'm not sure I played the creature to its strengths in retrospect, so I feel a formal tactics analysis is in order for when they come across the slain creature's bereft and enraged but much larger mate... of course, I may have just been watching too much Swamp People lately also so there is that to factor in!
Dracodile destroying a boat |
It strikes me that while drakes are correlates of the younger core 5E dragons (as opposed to *true* Immorese dragons), dracodiles are perhaps the (somewhat smaller) Immorese counterpart of dragon turtles, which Keith doesn't cover on his blog (but does indeed in his first book, page 245) ...
These guys are Huge beasts, which from a tactical sense means they occupy 3 x 3 5 ft. squares on a battle map, so although they have reach 10 ft. and can therefore threaten a 7 x7 square area and dominate most battlefields, they can also be readily surrounded by 16 Medium-sized creatures, which can be a lot of opportunity attacks if its not careful...
Fortunately, a dracodile can tank *hard *with high Hit Dice (>200 hit points), very high CON, and a high AC. Unsurprisingly then that it's a brute like many alpha predator beasts, with the classic very high STR and CON dominating its physical ability contour. Low INT, but average WIS makes it instinctive in combat as expected, but wily enough to choose targets when possible. Its natural aggressiveness and marked territorialism make it unlikely to back down from a fight, only fleeing once its hit points drop to xx (xx%). Average CHA has no social use given it can't speak and lacks Intimidate or other CHA-based skills so no further comment.
If it does flee, it does so by using Disengage and its high swim speed of 50 ft. to escape through the water and out of vision, allowing it to Hide using a combination of its Stealth proficiency and Underwater Camouflage.
This is also its default attack style - ambush from *underwater* in a swamp, taking advantage of not only its Underwater Camouflage, fast swim speed, and Stealth proficiency, but also its Hold Breath trait (allowing it to stay submerged for up to 5 hours as opposed to just 8 minutes based on its CON modifier), which means it can lie in wait hidden or approach slowly and stealthily.
Like the fog drake, this creature has as "breath weapon" option vs it's Multiattack, in this case a Poison Breath (Recharge 5-6) attack, with a decent DC 16 CON save that inflicts significant damage, only slightly less than its two other attack options combined (but likely at higher chance of success, and with the potential for affecting multiple components). There's no additional condition effect inflicted by this option, but it makes a powerful opening move, particularly against multiple weaker opponents such as the standard crew of a boat or a band too close to the shoreline. Given it takes up to three rounds on avergaae to recharge and many CR appropriate combats don't last that long, there's little reason not to use this early and if it recharges before then, to use it again.
A dracodile's has a set Bite/Tail Multiattack, but let's start with the Tail, which is just a simple bludgeoning attack without imposing an additional condition. This seems a bit odd, as a giant crocodile (MM5E, page 324), which clearly shares the same physiognomy, has a similar Bite/Tail combo, but the crocodile's tail attack also forces an opponent prone on a failed DC 16 STR save (against a non grappled opponent). Note: unlike a crocodile, there's no mention that a dracodile can't use its tail attack against a grappled opponent, so as written it can keep lashing a restrained victim...
Their Bite attack is the same as a crocodile's, but scaled up in damage and with a higher DC 18 for the grapple that inflicts the restrained condition. As breaking a grapple requires the victim to spend an action and make an opposed Athletics (Strength) or Acrobatics (Dexterity) against the dracodile's Atheltics (Strength) check of +7, this is a considerable difficulty for most characters, and can be dragged easily by the creature wherevr it wishes. Unlike a gatorman, these predators lack a Death Roll, and sure once they have caught a creature they cannot use their Bite attack on another target, but by impliction, as maintaining a grapple does *not* use an action, the dracodile can keep biting its target.
Drowning Victims without a Death Roll...
Pulling all of this together, although a dracodile lacks a Death Roll, it will still instinctively attempt to knock or drag its prey into and under the water to attempt to *drown* an opponent and give it disadvantage on attacks and reduced movement (worse if in medium or heavier armour), preferably by dragging it down into the depths away from landlubber opponents that can't purse it. During the time submerged, the dracodile can continue to bite (and tail attack possibly) its restrained victim.
As noted previously, a character underwater can hold their breath for a number of minutes equal to their CON modifier + 1 minute (or only 1 minute / 10 rounds if their CON modifier is 0 or less) PHB, page 183) and then survives a number of rounds equal to its CON modifier (minimum 1 round) before dropping to 0 hit points and being forced to make death saves. Except a character can't remain stable underwater, so they start making death saves again. This means an average CON character takes at least 14 rounds to die from drowning, or just over a minute, which seems reasonable. If the breath is knocked out of a victim before being submerged, you could rule they have a lot less time to survive (4 rounds), but there is no official rule on that and it's quite brutal.
Then again being drowned by a giant dragon-like mega-crocodile is meant to be pretty brutal...
(Privateer Press Insider, circa 2017)
Alpha Dracodile Variant - "The Big Un"
Just like "Voorie" and "Stinktooth" from their respective Pendrake Encounters are "enhanced" variants of their base creatures (fog drake and gorax respectively), I think it would be interesting to suggest an "alpha" variant for a dracodile - in fact I'm planning to introduce one to my players as the female mate of the dracodile they did manage to slay...
I would suggest the following for what the local gatormen refer to as "The Big Un":
- Increase Hit Dice to 20d12+140 (270 hit points) ie 54 extra hit points
- Estimated higher CR 12 (8,400 CP), which does not change proficiency bonus of +4
- Change to Poison Breath (Recharge 4-6), averaging a breath attack every second round
- Tail attack knocks opponents prone unless DC 18 STR save like a giant crocodile
- Add Death Roll as an action against a grappled and restrained opponent - this works the same as a gatorman's attack (MN5E, page 73) ie. the grappled target is knocked prone and takes 39 (5d12 + 7) bludgeoning damage. In addition, if the grappled creature is underwater, the amount of time it can hold its breath is reduced by 1 minute. Creatures that can’t be knocked prone are immune to this attack.
Essentially these modifications make the dracodile even more "mega-crocodile" in manifestation, without really changing tactics a great deal. I've refrained from adding any legendary or lair actions although an extra Multiattack, a free Dash, and/or an automatic Poison Breath recharge (at the cost of 2 actions) don't seem unreasonable if using "Voorie" as a guideline.
Dracodiles as Warbeasts?
Finally, although there are no rules for swamp warlocks (gatormen and bog trogs) or a correspondeding "Swamp Resonance" category in the warbeast section of the Borderlands and Beyond Kickstarter PDF, in HORDES dracodiles have long been potential bonded warbeasts.
I'd note the base CR10 is a bit higher than the other apex warbeasts that all have CR9, but would otherwise suggest the following specifics:
- Threshold 3
- Animi: devourer's fury, rage, still as death
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